Topic: Trying to come up with a good game to buy for an 11 year old.

@Truegamer79 Just ask the kid what Switch game he wants. No point you choosing the game when he might not like it!

When I was a 9 year old kid and got a Megadrive for Xmas 🎄 I choose all the 4 games I got along with it for Xmas.

My son is younger but loves Minecraft, his other favourite game is Zelda Tears of the Kingdom as he likes doing the adventures and building stuff.

Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime are worth cpnsidering too.

Interesting, I don't come across this often. Have you watched many old (1960s) Twilight Zone episodes, versus newer ones ('80s onward)? I'm asking because the style and content differences go way beyond the colour depth (obviously). Since you say it's your brain, as opposed to your preferences?... (just curious).

I agree about Mario Maker, and sure, there's a distinction between "difficult" and "antiquated". I think my problem here is in thinking that because something can be done faster/more efficiently that it's necessarily better, or that older, more laborious forms are somehow not worth our time anymore - and I'm not accusing you of thinking this, I'm just saying. Painting is still fun and worthwhile (for artist and audience), regardless of how many printers and GPUs there are, right?

Personally I think Fortnite is infinitely harder than nes Mario and I can never understand how young kids can play it. 😅

I've really avoided that one like the plague, but I'll have to get around to trying it at least once...

I was watching this furry human (warning: if you can't handle Alex Olney's face, do not click!), who mounts an interesting defense of NES Metroid, and alerted me to Arlo's... assertions.

I respect your opinion, though I disagree strongly (to each her own, of course). I won't say that the game always controls well (and it cries out for free aim); it can be blatantly unfair and betrays a shocking lack of polish. That said, the soundtrack is incredible, the gameplay is varied and clever, and even the tile art is unique and very atmospheric.

Zero Mission replaces it effectively, and anyone who wants a good basic Metroid game can always play Super Metroid, which still holds up.

I would love to play Zero Mission, but NCL is deploying their usual shenanigans with NSO, so... I have yet to do so. For reasons stated above, I don't know that I could agree with you about "replacing" NES Metroid, but I'll reserve judgment. I'm always unsure of what to think about the argument that stuff is not playable "these days", but I will say that playing other retro games from the mid-80s on Switch has only deepened my respect for Metroid 1, by the same token. To be clear, I have a real problem with Arlo's flippant and dismissive comments, but I don't take most YouTubers seriously in any case...

@CANOEberry lol why wouldn't I be able to handle his face? If anything, I like hairy men. But that's neither here nor there. I'll have to watch that longer video later.

I went to the timestamp in the Arlo video and he seems to call it "revolutionary," but also points out the issues that make it difficult to enjoy today, so...

The game definitely has some upsides. It's just always been extremely hard for me to get into for the reasons Arlo aluded to (especially if you don't download the map online).

Admittedly, I have a lot of the same issues with the original NES Legend of Zelda. Cryptic progression, limited resources for not getting lost, and just sort of lacking in the basic features that made the SNES entry so much better.

Zero Mission definitely replaces it narratively. Gameplay and vibes-wise, it's its own thing. Much less "atmospheric" and possessing more of an adventure feel, for one thing. And, of course, there's the pretty famously interesting sequence near the end that doesn't really have any parallels in other Metroid titles.

Kinda weird it's not on NSO yet.

@Truegamer79 I would think a 11 year old boy would like almost anything as long as it’s not to violent. I know he doesn’t like Mario but Super Mario Wonder is good and so is Super Mario RPG.

@Atomic77 I'm pretty sure a 11 year old would like everything that is violent. Take it from someone enlighted in more than one way by a GTA3 at an even younger age

@Princess_Lilly you’re probably right but there are some things that a child that young probably shouldn’t be exposed to.

@Atomic77 probably, I don't know, I'm not a psychologist, I know I loved it and it didn't mess me up (the worst thing was that I had a much different music taste than my peers at school and it was one of the reasons I was bullied) but it could just be me

The topic is important, but in my opinion a lot of necessary information is missing. What does this kid like at the age of 11 ( whether puzzle games, strategy games, simulators, etc...at this age a child can already determine his preferences). Another question should be what is expected from the game (whether it should only provide him with entertainment, or maybe become a way to acquire information, knowledge and new skills).